Results for Web Services

Sun Nixes NetBeans/Eclipse Marriage

2003-12-04

Java devs hoping for a single, unified Open Source toolkit for working with web services got bad news this week, as execs from Sun's NetBeans and Eclipse.org couldn't reach agreement on how to marry their technologies. One Sun exec said the Sun/Eclipse marriage didn't take place because the parties weren't able to set "common ground [for] mutual development."

The J2EE 1.4 spec is final, and downloads will be available Nov. 24. The finalization of J2EE 1.4 comes almost a year after it was delayed to support basic web services standards from the multi-vendor WS-I. But, some J2EE voices say it could also be the beginning of the end of Sun's long-standing separation between church and state, as Sun offers its commercial implementations of the spec. IDN spoke with Sun's Distinguished Engineer Mark Hapner.

Knowing some in-depth XML can really make a difference in the performance and ease of integration for certain beginner web services projects. IDN recently spoke with execs at an experienced web services development firm to provide a Quick Guide to some of the best XML tips for senior Java and ASP/.NET developers.

Like many Java tools providers, Seagull is looking to make it easier for enterprise devs to integrate web and legacy assets. With deep Java roots, Seagull is bringing some new tools to .NET and Windows devs that just may turn some heads about how the Java and .NET (and Windows) worlds will interact.

SPML 1.0, an XML approach for cross-platform provisioning and for secure web services, was adopted Nov. 3 by OASIS. Supported by heavyweights IBM, Microsoft, CA, work is already underway for SPML 2.0 to bring more provisioning and security features to web services and SOA devs. Get the latest on SPML's use, the final docs, and insights from Darran Rolls, chair of the OASIS Service Provisioning Markup Language Technical Committee, for using SPML.

Microsoft and a few of its partners have pulled together a massive Visual Basic.NET Resource Kit CD, aimed at jump starting VB developers participation with .NET projects for Windows, web services and mobile applications. The free kit offers more than 100 code samples, 4 key end-to-end sample Web applications and a library of free components third-party partners. See more detail on what's inside, and how to get one free.

Some of the nation's best-known financial companies will meet in New York next week to explore how standards-based web services (and related open standards) can speed up projects by cutting the amount of code it takes developers to launch or modify a business process. Get an overview of the event, and some insight into how Merrill Lynch is using open standards to cut costs.

The secrets to a successful web services project arise from one key insight, says Kirby Turner, a Solution Developer with developer services and integration firm Avanade Inc. That is: A web service is simply "a programmable application logic accessed by using standard Internet protocols." In this article, Turner touches on seven keys to success, including using registries, setting security and even the vexing debate over how much XML hand-coding does a developer really need to know.

Financial services devs have been given some guidelines on how today's web services technology can -- or cannot -- be used for complex and sensitive B2B cash management system integration. Overall, the verdict from some of the most demanding financial firms in the world can be summed up as "OK in some places. Almost more places. Let's stick with it." See why BoA, JPMorgan Chase and others are so optimistic, and what they say still needs to be done.

Last month, IBM, and Microsoft showed a working demo of their next-gen web services standards for reliability, security and transactions management. Meanwhile, Sun released the first J2EE 1.4 codeset with web services, making good on a promise made late last year to bundle core web services support for SOAP, WSDL and UDDI into J2EE 1.4 source.

Last week was a pretty good one for devs looking for evidence that enterprise-ready web services are ready for their attention, Microsoft and IBM jointly showed a working demo of their next-gen web services standards for reliability, security and transactions management. Meanwhile, Sun was offering the first code release of J2EE 1.4 with web services, making good on a promise made late last year to bundle core web services support for SOAP, WSDL and UDDI into J2EE 1.4 source code.

SAP, at its TechEd '03 Developers' Conference earlier this month, SAP offered .NET and Java developers a peek at an array of integrated tools and web-to-legacy deployment technologies. IDN takes a drill-down look at SAP's new integration and appdev tools, slated to roll out between now and mid-2004.